It is thought to be the place where Captain Blackbeard docked his ship when visiting Philadelphia.<5> The island was a hotbed for gambling and dueling in the 18th and 19th centuries, and acquired a reputation for lawlessness and danger; adding to this danger was the large number of shipwrecks which occurred around the island, some of which are still visible at low tide.
"Meaning: Nothing is achieved by empty words or flattery.
Origin: This proverbial saying is English and dates from the 17th century. It expresses the notion that fine words count for nothing and that action means more than flattery or promises. You aren't very likely to come across 'fine words butter no parsnips' as 20th century street slang - you are more liable to hear it in a period costume drama. Potatoes were imported into Britain from America by John Hawkins in the mid 16th century and became a staple in what established itself as the national dish - meat and two veg. Before that, various root vegetables were eaten instead, often mashed and, as anyone who has eaten mashed swedes, turnips or parsnips can testify, they cry out to be 'buttered-up' - another term for flattery. Indeed, the English were known for their habit of layering on butter to all manner of foods, much to the disgust of the French who used it as evidence of the English lack of expertise regarding cuisine and to the Japanese, who referred to Europeans in general and the English in particular as 'butter-stinkers'. This butter habit is evidenced in the various forms of the expression that are found in print in the 1600s - 'fine/fair/soft words butter no parsnips/cabbage/fish/connie'. A typical example is this verse from John Taylor's Epigrammes, 1651:
Words are but wind that do from men proceed; None but Chamelions on bare Air can feed; Great men large hopeful promises may utter; But words did never Fish or Parsnips butter..
The earliest version that I know of in print is in John Clarke's Latin/English textbook Paroemiologia, 1639:
Faire words butter noe parsnips, verba non alunt familiam.
"..."Luke" was a Middle English word, now obsolete, meaning "warm," which was based on "lew," another word for "warm." "Lew," in turn, was derived from the Old English word "hleow," meaning "warm."."Lukewarm" actually amounts to saying "warm-warm," but this sort of redundancy is common when obsolete words are carried over into modern usage.
If we trace "hleow" back a bit further, we find the Latin word "calor," meaning "heat." "Calor" gave us "calorie" (a measure of heat), "cauldron," and, from the derivative word "calere" ("to be hot"), the word "nonchalant," describing someone who stays cool."
Location: Still in the tunnel, looking for the light. Gender:
Posted:
May 18, 2012 - 11:30am
Coaxial wrote:
hobiejoe wrote:
Today I learnt how to edit a movie in iMovies and post it on my youtoob channel which I also learnt how to set up today. I'm feeling rather pleased with meself.
The video is an iphone clip of the last few minutes of the very last gig of last week's music festival - the only chance I had to take any video! It was packed and we had to turn people away three nights running - keep an eye on the girls outside the window.... A great weekend, seven gigs in two and a half days in the pub, but I've subsequently spent most of this week like a zombie.
Very cool. They were rocking inside and outside for sure. Glad it was a success.
Awesome band, and really nice blokes, normally a three-piece but Jay the bass player wasn't required for the encore so made the most of his spare time getting to know the audience a member of the audience better
Here they are with Jay and his bass:
BTW, we were only a tiny part of the festival - it was all over the town, and even Nancy played the piano in the local theatre along with all the other pupils of her piano teacher. Lovely weekend.
Today I learnt how to edit a movie in iMovies and post it on my youtoob channel which I also learnt how to set up today. I'm feeling rather pleased with meself.
The video is an iphone clip of the last few minutes of the very last gig of last week's music festival - the only chance I had to take any video! It was packed and we had to turn people away three nights running - keep an eye on the girls outside the window.... A great weekend, seven gigs in two and a half days in the pub, but I've subsequently spent most of this week like a zombie.
Very cool. They were rocking inside and outside for sure. Glad it was a success.
Location: Still in the tunnel, looking for the light. Gender:
Posted:
May 18, 2012 - 10:04am
Today I learnt how to edit a movie in iMovies and post it on my youtoob channel which I also learnt how to set up today. I'm feeling rather pleased with meself.
The video is an iphone clip of the last few minutes of the very last gig of last week's music festival - the only chance I had to take any video! It was packed and we had to turn people away three nights running - keep an eye on the girls outside the window.... A great weekend, seven gigs in two and a half days in the pub, but I've subsequently spent most of this week like a zombie.
